Miscellaneous Corner

[CV19]

Only the other night I read somewhere that GB News were in talks regarding broadcasting on DAB radio as well, and this will simply be an audio simulcast of the TV channel. Time will tell, as they say.

[Aclea]

I don't know if it's national or just local because they're broadcasting such a weak signal, but after yesterday's constant technical problems it isn't even receivable in my area now.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

I don't know if it's national or just local because they're broadcasting such a weak signal, but after yesterday's constant technical problems it isn't even receivable in my area now.

They're hoping to start next month - apparently they're currently looking at getting a DAB licence, and will be broadcasting nationally judging by this article:

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/06/gb-...radio-station/

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Superb. Jimmy McGovern, Stephen Graham and Sean Bean. What a dream team.

First episode was ace as Michael mentioned.

I'll need to check, and I don't know if it's a repeat or not. There is a documentary (in the interview-sense) about Jimmy McGovern on BBC Four next Sunday night.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CV19

They're hoping to start next month - apparently they're currently looking at getting a DAB licence, and will be broadcasting nationally judging by this article:

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2021/06/gb-...radio-station/

It's broadcasting on TV but the signal's too weak in my area to pick it up. Maybe I'm just too far from London, though there's a stronger signal here for London Live.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

It's broadcasting on TV but the signal's too weak in my area to pick it up. Maybe I'm just too far from London, though there's a stronger signal here for London Live.

Can I just ask if you're watching this on Freeview? I live in Cheshire, and used to have Freeview on the spare TV in the other room and was regularly having issues with picture freeze and sometimes a total blank screen, even with the BBC channels. However I now have Freesat on that same TV, and never had problems since. GB News is fine as well - Channel 216.

[Aclea]

Yes, freeview - though yesterday that and Al Jazeera (I never watch it but noticed it was the preceding channel on the dial and checked it) were the only channels I tried without any receivable signal. In the summer when it's really hot reception here gets worse the further down the dial you go, but yesterday wasn't a bad reception day.

[OceanBlue]

I didn't see the first edition of Piers Morgan's Life Stories where Dame Joan Collins was interviewed. But I have set to record this coming Sunday night a new edition where he is interviewing her again. I'll be interested to see if Dynasty is talked about, but especially The Colbys (as she apparently refused to have anything to do with the spin-off).

[HotRats]

As season two of Guilt is due to air soon it's a good time to see season one on iPlayer if you missed it first time

[OceanBlue]

Read yesterday in the new issue of TV & Satellite Week magazine that a horror film trilogy called Fear Street is being added to Netflix from a week on Friday. The first film is being added on that day, with the other two being added over the next two weeks after that. They're based on the RL Stine books.

The synopsis sounds intriguing

[Show spoiler](it's set in the same North American town during three time periods).

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CV19

I didn't see the launch of GB News, but perhaps given a bit of time it may settle down and end up being a reasonably good channel. I'm hoping Andrew Neil's no-nonsense style of interviewing politicians will continue as he is an interviewer I always admired when he was working at the BBC.

Looks like he's not coming back after taking a 'short' break in France over six weeks ago. He only lasted 12 days.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

Looks like he's not coming back after taking a 'short' break in France over six weeks ago. He only lasted 12 days.

You're right, he didn't last very long did he. I've just been reading a bit about this on the Mail Online this morning, and the staff at GB News don't appear to know for sure. One spokesman says he'll return in September, and others saying they have no idea whether or not he'll come back after apparently falling out with the chief executive.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...r-GB-News.html

For me personally he would have been the main attraction on that channel and I can't imagine any of the other presenters being able to match his interviewing style. To be honest, I haven't tuned into GB News all that often lately, and haven't yet watched Nigel Farage since he joined. They reckon he's getting pretty good ratings, at least for the time being.

[Aclea]

Neil was the only thing it had going for it for me: too many of the usual overexposed loons (Laurence Fox, Farage, Wootton, anti-vaxxers) spouting their pet rants yet again with none of the 'unheard or overlooked' new voices they promised (well, unless you count asking Frenchy from Grease her opinions on British politics) and their pretence at balance lost when they cancelled Johnson's former advisor for expressing a different opinion (they really shouldn't be running a show called Uncancelled after that). And still virtually no news, just lecturing people about how they should think. No wonder staff and advertisers are deserting it.

The tragedy is that it may mean that Neil's days as a TV political interviewer are over for good. He seems to have burned his bridges with the BBC and even though he was instrumental in setting it up, would he really fit in at Sky anymore? Channel 4 would seem the best fit for his quietly go for the jugular approach, but with the government determined to sell it off I can't see them making any new hires who might make the government even more hostile to them, and an interviewer Johnson is so terrified of like Neil is exactly that.

And it is a tragedy, because he's the best political interviewer in the business, and he never lets his own political affiliations get in the way onscreen, meting out the same surgically precise interviewing technique to left, right and centre. It'd be a shame if we never got to see that again or if it were buried on a subscription-only service.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

The tragedy is that it may mean that Neil's days as a TV political interviewer are over for good. He seems to have burned his bridges with the BBC and even though he was instrumental in setting it up, would he really fit in at Sky anymore? Channel 4 would seem the best fit for his quietly go for the jugular approach, but with the government determined to sell it off I can't see them making any new hires who might make the government even more hostile to them, and an interviewer Johnson is so terrified of like Neil is exactly that.

I would be sad if Neil no longer appeared on TV - and I agree, he is the best political interviewer out there. Talking of Johnson, I remember back in 2019 during the party leader interviews when Neil (after already interviewing the other leaders) invited Johnson to come and participate as no date had been submitted by him. Boris must have realised he'd be in for a rough ride as quite frankly I think Neil would have wiped the floor with him.

I think you're right about Channel 4 - I can't see Neil going over to them with the way things are at present. Sky could be an alternative, but somehow I can't see them letting Neil have a slot of his own, which he deserves to have.

Looking at some of the faces on the GB News website, of the ones I recognise, I don't see any of them being a suitable replacement for Andrew Neil. Alastair Stewart I remember from his years at ITV, and Colin Brazier was on Sky, the same as Simon McCoy. I only recall them mainly as newsreaders rather than interviewers, although they have conducted very brief interviews through video links. However I can't see them being able to sit down face-to-face with politicians and conducting grilling, hard-hitting interviews in the manner Neil managed to do so well.

[OceanBlue]

Steedeel, you may already know about this (and I could swear there was an existing thread in the UK & Ireland sub-forum for Network's Blu-ray releases of some of the recent series/seasons), but starting on channel 5 Star next Tuesday night is the second half of the last series/season of Wentworth.

Is that correct, the second half of the eighth produced series/season? In the new issue of TV & Satellite Week it says there are ten episodes and that it's the ninth series/season. I can remember reading something that the last series/season was going to be longer.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by CV19

I would be sad if Neil no longer appeared on TV - and I agree, he is the best political interviewer out there.

I just finished watching the first season of Marseille and at times Gerard Depardieu looks surprisingly like Neil. I think that may be the closest thing to seeing Neil on TV again this year...

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Steedeel, you may already know about this (and I could swear there was an existing thread in the UK & Ireland sub-forum for Network's Blu-ray releases of some of the recent series/seasons), but starting on channel 5 Star next Tuesday night is the second half of the last series/season of Wentworth.

Is that correct, the second half of the eighth produced series/season? In the new issue of TV & Satellite Week it says there are ten episodes and that it's the ninth series/season. I can remember reading something that the last series/season was going to be longer.

It’s confusing. They split the last series into two ten episodes sections but each series is around ten episodes anyway. I will be buying them on ITunes as I have the other series on there. I got them because I wasn’t expecting a Blu-ray of each season.

It will probably release around December or Jan.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Aclea

I just finished watching the first season of Marseille and at times Gerard Depardieu looks surprisingly like Neil. I think that may be the closest thing to seeing Neil on TV again this year...

I haven't seen Marseille, however after looking at some of his pictures from the show on Google, I have to agree.

There are still a few online news reports claiming that Neil fell out with chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos who wants to turn the channel into something along the lines of Fox News. Apparently Frangopoulos was at Sky News in Australia for several years, but to be totally honest, I've never even heard of the guy until now.

[Steedeel]

I just picked up Des on Blu-ray (David Tennant) didn’t watch when on ITV as I always hoped it would get a disc release.

[OceanBlue]

Didn't know about this until earlier today, while reading today's 'i' newspaper. Comedian Sean Lock has passed away. Admittedly, I didn't watch a lot of him on TV, but I know he appeared a lot on 8 Out of 10 Cats.